145: Joe Gambino of Rogue Fabrication couldn't find a tube bender to meet his particular needs so he went out and made one himself!
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Description
Joe grew up in Oregon and stayed there through college and went to Oregon Tech for Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Business. He never really saw himself owning his own business, so he spent several years working for other companies as an engineer. He spent all his extra time playing with and modifying offroad trucks. He soon realized that he could take a pretty good tax write off if he created a business to research, develop, and sell various parts he was making. In 2008, he made a simple web page and began making wheel centers to utilize the Hummer H1 wheels on other vehicles. 2 years later, he was shopping around for a tube bender and couldn’t find anything he could afford that he liked. So, he decided to make one himself! He slowly transitioned out of a full-time job by moving to part time contracting. This allowed him to ramp up Rogue Fabrication while tapering down the time at his other job. He continued to do consulting part time until finally doing his manufacturing business full time. They continue to bring more operations in house and currently employ 6 people. Their product focus is for chassis fabrication tools that include the tube bender, notcher, dimple dies, drill press reduction kit, and a press brake for taco gussets.
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Published 03/03/20
Published 03/03/20